Life in Little Whinging
by ANN0
Summary: It's basically Harry Potter: The Early Years.. hmm that does make it sound rubbish. Oh well! (chapter 2 up)
1. Little Whinging Primary School

The Chimney Incident - Chapter One: Little Whinging Primary School

All copyrights respected. I only own 'Miss Armstrong' although you're welcome to her if you want her. Obviously the other characters are the property of the wonderful J.K.R. 

Please make any comments you wish, and thanks for reading! 

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"GET DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW!" 

"I - I didn't mean to!" stammered Harry as he started to climb down the fire escape at the side of the kitchens at Little Whinging Primary School. 

Standing at the bottom of the ladder was Miss Armstrong, who was the headmistress and probably the last person Harry would want to find him sitting on the chimney of the tallest building in the school. Standing just behind Mrs Armstrong was Harry's cousin Dudley and his gang. _It's their fault I'm in trouble_ thought Harry as he jumped the last foot to the ground. He had been trying to hide from his cousin's gang all break time, and had been trying to jump behind the big bins behind the kitchen doors when he ended up on the chimney. 

"Explain yourself Potter!" Miss Armstrong half shouted at him. She was a large woman in every sense of the word, about six feet tall and about half that wide. At the moment she was also the colour of a beetroot. 

"I d - don't know what happened miss" said Harry looking at his shoes. "I was running away from _them_" pointing at Dudley and his gang, who suddenly stopped sneering at Harry and attempted to look innocent, "and then I ended up on the roof." 

"You can't just _end up_ on the roof Potter!" said Miss Armstrong, who was still livid but slowly returning to her normal colour. " You have to _climb_ to do that. And you know the rules don't you Potter?" 

"Yes miss." 

"Well?" asked Mrs Armstrong. 

"No using the fire escape unless there is a fire," said Harry dully. 

"That's right. Well I think that we will have to send a letter to your parents this time Potter." said Mrs Armstrong obviously awaiting a response. 

There was a pause. 

"What I mean," she said quickly realising what she had just said, "is that a letter will be sent to your guardians. That means your Uncle and Aunt, am I right?" 

"Yeah." said Harry, who was still looking determinedly at his shoes. _She loves reminding me that I don't have any parents... I hate her_ he thought. 

"Right then, and as it is nearly time for the end of break, you can come with me rather than going to your classroom." Then looking at Dudley, "Ah Mr Dursley, would you mind coming too?" she asked sweetly. "I will need you to take the letter to your parents." 

"Of course Miss Armstrong" replied Dudley happily. 

A few minutes later Harry and Dudley were sitting in Miss Armstrong's office, which was decorated with the end-of-year grades of each of the children in the school. Dudley was straining in his seat, trying to see what Miss Armstrong was writing on the school's headed notepaper and grinning nastily at Harry, who had his head in his hands and was looking miserable. 

"Right," said Miss Armstrong signing the letter, folding it up and sealing in an envelope before handing it to Dudley, "this is to go to your mother and father. I don't want you opening and reading it before you give it to them (much to Dudley's audible disappointment), but I'm sure that you will hear much of its contents." At this she gave Harry a dirty look. 

"I hope this will give you something to think about Mr Potter," she said as Dudley put the letter in his trouser pocket. "I'm sure that you will be much better behaved when you are back after the summer. You must remember that you will be among the oldest in the school, and as such you should be showing the younger pupils an example. This means no more _funny_ behaviour on your part." 

"And _do_ try to do something about your hair!" 


	2. Back Home

The Chimney Incident - Chapter 2: Back Home

All copyrights respected. I only own 'Miss Armstrong' although you're welcome to her if you want her. Obviously the other characters are the property of the wonderful J.K.R. 

Please make any comments you wish, and thanks for reading! 

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Later that afternoon after school had finished, Harry arrived back to the only home he had ever known, number four Privet Drive. Dudley had run ahead of him (a remarkable achievement in many ways, the only other time Harry had seen Dudley run that fast was when Harry had thought that he'd heard the Ice-cream van on the road late last summer), and the reason for this haste soon became obvious. 

Harry had just stepped through the doorway when he heard his Uncle Vernon's voice coming from down the hallway. 

"Boy! Get in here now." 

Uncle Vernon was standing in the centre of the kitchen with Harry's Aunt Petunia standing next to him. They looked, as Harry often thought, like a comedy duo because they were so totally different. Uncle Vernon was big and beefy but Aunt Petunia was the complete opposite, thin with a long craning neck. At the moment however, they weren't looking very comical. Uncle Vernon had Miss Armstrong's letter in his hand. 

"What's this then?" he said, shaking the letter in Harry's direction, "Been up to more _funny_ business have you?" 

"No" said Harry, "I was just trying-" 

"Oh I see," interrupted Uncle Vernon in mock understanding, "so you mean to say that you happened be running along in the playground, and then _suddenly_ you were on the roof of the school?" 

"Yes! I was trying to hide from Dudley's gang, " said Harry, "and I don't know what happened." 

Aunt Petunia snorted, "You filthy little liar!" she said. "This letter, from the headmistress no less, says that you climbed up a ladder on the side of the building. Explain that!" 

"I - I can't" said Harry. 

"Why?" asked Dudley, who up until this point had been watching the exchange with interest, "did you do it by _magic?_" 

"DUDLEY!" shouted Uncle Vernon loudly, causing several net curtains across the street to twitch, "DON'T BE RIDICULOUS!" 

"I think you should go up to your room sweetums," said Aunt Petunia quickly, "read a book or something." 

Shocked, Dudley threw his parents a disbelieving look and scurried out of the door and up the stairs. 

"And you!" growled Uncle Vernon, as he rounded on Harry, "You can go straight to your cupboard and stay there for the rest of the summer!" 

"Hey!" said Harry, "But I -" 

"GO!" shouted Uncle Vernon as he spun Harry around and marched him into the cupboard under the stairs. The door slammed shut behind Harry, and he was plunged into semi darkness, illuminated only by the shafts of light from the grill in the door itself. 

"Ruddy lock," complained Uncle Vernon fiddling with the door, "it was working fine this morning." At which point he gave up and wedged one of the kitchen chairs under the door handle. 

Harry pressed his face against the grate, " I was only trying to jump behind the bins!" he shouted, but his Uncle and Aunt were having none of it. 

"Just think about what you've done." came Aunt Petunia's voice through the door. 

_That's just it_, thought Harry. _I really don't know what I did..._

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Well there you go. Just a little fic.. I hope you like it. 


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